South African Union Calls Off Strike at Western Cape Grape Farms

By Mike Cohen -
Jan 22, 2013

South Africa’s Food and Allied
Workers Union called off a strike by farmworkers in the
country’s biggest table-grape producing region while it pursues
talks with employers about increasing minimum wages.

Thousands of workers have embarked on intermittent strikes
since November, demanding that the minimum daily wage be
increased to 150 rand ($17) from 70 rand. Three people died,
vineyards and packing sheds were torched and harvesting was
disrupted.

On Jan. 16, the Congress of South African Trade Unions, the
country’s largest labor group known as Cosatu, said the strike
would be suspended for a week in about 15 rural towns to allow
for wage negotiations. Workers in De Doorns in the Hex River
Valley, about 150 kilometers (94 miles) northeast of Cape Town,
opted to continue striking.

The leadership of the Food and Allied Workers Union, or
FAWU, met workers in De Doorns yesterday and called for an end
to the labor action, Katishi Masemola, the union’s general
secretary, said in an e-mailed statement today.

“As from Wednesday, workers will start trickling back to
their workplaces,” he said. “Farm-by-farm talks will still
continue. Workers have asked FAWU to still pursue” talks with
the Hex River Table Grape Producers’ Association about setting
minimum wages for all farms in the area.

Cosatu, whose affiliate unions include FAWU, will release a
statement later today, Mike Louw, an organizer for the
federation, said by phone from Cape Town.

Rubber Bullets

De Doorns has been the center of the farmworker protests,
with police firing rubber bullets and stun grenades to disperse
stone-throwing crowds. Police have arrested 203 people since the
latest violence erupted on Jan. 9.

The Bawsi Agricultural Workers Union of South Africa, which
has about 10,000 members, will meet with workers in De Doorns
later today to decide whether to continue striking, Nosey
Pieterse, the union’s president, said by phone from Cape Town.
Workers will probably settle for a minimum daily wage of 105
rand, he said.

Agriculture makes up about 2.1 percent of South Africa’s
gross domestic product, government data show. Farms produce
close to 6.5 percent of the country’s exports, including wine,
citrus fruit, corn, grapes, apples and pears. Farming in the
Western Cape employs about 200,000 workers, according to the
provincial agriculture department.